Pro Eleven Headline News

Police probe alleged assault by Mourinho

British police are investigating an alleged assault by Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho on a supporter after their Champions League defeat here at Old Trafford, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

The former Chelsea boss allegedly punched a supporter as he left the ground after Wednesday's 2-0 last 16 second leg loss to Champions League holders Manchester United, reports said.

The allegation was quickly denied by Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho during training on Thursday.

"Shortly before midnight (0000GMT) last night a man reported that he had been punched in the face outside Old Trafford," said a spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police when asked about the alleged incident involving Mourinho.

"We are investigating an allegation of common assault," she added.

Mourinho, who labelled himself the 'Special One' on the eve of taking over at United's English rivals Chelsea in 2004, was approaching the Inter team bus which was taking the team to the airport when, with celebrating United fans nearby, the alleged incident happened.

Police have now contacted United to request closed circuit television footage of the area in question.

Inter confirmed that Mourinho had climbed onto the bus after giving his last interview of the night -- to the club's own TV channel -- but said that he had a calm time post game.

Meanwhile the fan, who is not from the Greater Manchester area, did not inform police of any injuries following Mourinho's alleged punch and did not require treatment.

Mourinho has enjoyed a testy relationship with the Milanese press and the Portuguese was irked by an Italian reporter's suggestion at the post-match news conference that he had been brought to Inter to deliver victory in the Champions League.

"I understand the question, not the speech that preceded it," replied Mourinho, who refuelled longstanding speculation that he might one day succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as United manager by saying in the build-up to this match that he felt "at home" at Old Trafford.

However, he insisted a return to English football was not imminent and that his focus was fixed on Inter.

"We have not been good enough to win the Champions League but we are good enough to win the Scudetto and I'm sure we will go on and win it," he said.

Winning a third consecutive title last season did not prevent Inter President Massimo Moratti from sacking Roberto Mancini to make way for Mourinho, billed as the man to take the club on to another level.

Asked if he expected to be summoned to explain himself, Mourinho said he would be seeking out Moratti.

"Ultimately I'm accountable to him, not to you," Mourinho told his press critics.

He added: "You can't just turn up and expect to win the Champions League just like that. One way is to spend a huge amount of money, which we know is not realistic in the current climate. The second way is to build a team over the course of time.

"Chelsea lost three semis before getting to last year's final. It is a process and getting to the top is a consequence of the hard work you put in."

Mourinho, who oversaw Porto's dramatic draw at Old Trafford on the way to guiding the Portuguese club to the 2004 Champions League title, said Inter had been unlucky on Wednesday after goal-bound efforts from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adriano hit the woodwork.

"You have to say that United deserved to win," Mourinho said.

"But I don't think we should be negative about my team's display. We played a great match against a great team.

"We just lacked that little bit of luck you need to win, that little thing that makes difference between winning and not winning." AFP


Udine give Italy UEFA Cup cheer, champs Zenit lose

Udinese's 2-0 victory over defending champions Zenit St Petersburg gave Italy rare cause to celebrate and Manchester City are set fair to reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals following Thursday's action.

Udine's Antonio Di Natale scored in the seventh minute of injury time following Fabio Quagliarella's 85th minute opener to give Italy some joy as their sole representatives in Europe following their Champions League wipe out before the quarter-finals for the first time in seven years.

Manchester City put one foot in the last eight with a 2-0 win over Danish side Aalborg at Eastlands.

Brazil forward Robinho returned after missing City's win over Aston Villa last week following a trip home to Brazil for treatment on an ankle injury and on Thursday the player was also named in Brazil's squad for World Cup action.

Felipe Caicedo and Shaun Wright-Phillips bagged first half goals for Mark Hughes side to put them on course for a first eight spot in this second-tier European competition for the first time in 30 years.

Stephen Ireland admitted Manchester City should have killed off Aalborg.

"We should have finished the game off here," he said on ITV. "When we go there next we have to be clever and not concede too early and get on the back foot, but we've done well away from home in Europe this season."

Asked if it was his best goal in City colours, England international Wright-Phillips said: "I'd just like to think so. It came to me and I cut inside and let loose, but like Stevie said the team performance was magnificent and we have to build on it."

Wright-Phillips appeared sporting a heavy icepack on his right ankle having come off four minutes from time, but insisted it was nothing to worry about.

"It's just a bit of a sore ankle but I'll just have to get on with it," he said.

It was an up-and-down night for French clubs with Paris Saint Germain getting a goalless draw with Portugal's Braga, Saint Etienne losing 1-0 at Werder Bremen, though Marseille had an impressive 2-1 victory over Ajax.

PSG coach Paul Le Guen said he was happy with the outcome. "I'm rather satisfied with the match, particularly the second half but I don't know if it will be enough to go through to the quarter-finals. We'll see. I saw a lot of tapes of this team and they played similarly to the ones on the screen and I wasn't surprised."

At Werder Bremen a minute's silence was held for the victims of the Winnenden massacre where 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer shot dead nine pupils and three teachers before killing three other people in the south-west German school.

Over at Hamburg's former Tottenham coach Martin Jol said after their home 1-1 draw with Turks Galatasaray: "In the first-half, we hardly played any football, but after the break we created four or five chances."

Galatasaray coach Buelent Kormaz said: "If you only end up passing the ball back and forth in your own half, nothing happens up front, but at least the result is okay.I congratulate my team about the result."

"We have now a small advantage to take back to Turkey. Our biggest advantage is our stadium with our fans. We will use this to our advantage."

In other matches, CSKA Moscow beat Shakhtar Donetsk, and Dynamo Kiev got a victory over Metalist Kharkov, both with 1-0 scorelines.

Winners after next week's second legs go into the Friday March 20 quarter-final draw. AFP